The Dark Hope
by Saint Danielle
Summary: AU. What if Barry Allen never became the hero? With the darker past, no people to support him and the sudden gift from the accident, will he be able to find his way to the right path? Or is he already too corrupted? Earth-3 AU version. Dark!Barry Normal!Caitlin. Rated T for now.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Flash. In any way. Not even a bit... Dang it!

* * *

 **I am really hyped about the parallel worlds in Season 2. Personally, mothing would beat the Earth-3 Barry fighting the mainstream continuity Flash.**

 **Personally, I am totally fine with Jay Garrick. It would be cool, if we got to see his story. (SPOILER FROM TRAILER WARNING) There is going to be one cool scene with two Flashes rushing to help.**

 **The very idea of alternate timelines seems the best. But, since season 2 will probably not include Earth-3 concept, I am going to write its branch. Why branch? Several reasons.**

 **First of all, I love the concept of Earth-3. Heroes are villains. Villains are heroes. BUT! I don't like the Earth-3 counterpart of Flash. How does it come that all of the Crime Syndicate members get cool names (Grid, Ultraman, Power Ring) and the speedster get stuck with 'Johnny Quick'. Plus, his costume doesn't seem so cool to me. It gives him more sinister look? Yes. But still, I would prefer his design from Crisis on Two Earths. That version was total badass.**

 **Anyway, you should NOT read this, if:**

 **1) you are not fan of DARK! Barry;**

 **2) you are not fan of DARK! SnowBarry;**

 **3) you are NOT into Captain Cold;**

 **4) you are NOT into Reversal AU;**

 **By the way, a few details.**

 **1) Not all characters are morally reversed in this story.**

 **2) I am not really good at appearance descriptions, so please, bear with me.**

 **3) There might be future crossovers with other heroes.**

* * *

 _My name is Barry Allen..._

 _And you'd better stay out of my way!_

 _When I was a child, my father killed my mom right in front of my eyes._

 _That was the Nightmare._

 _Then the accident made me the Nightmare..._

 _For the outside world, I was **Nobody**._

 _But now I can use my speed to do whatever I want and whenever I want!_

 _And one day I will destroy everyone who opposed me and get the desire for myself._

 _I am..._

 _》》》》》 **THE STRIKESPEED**_

* * *

Central City could proudly be considered one of the safest and most normal places. Unlike Starling City with the psycho villain **Dark** **Archer** or Gotham and its criminal mastermind **Owlman** , Central City Police Department never had to deal with something worse than second-rate bank robbery.

Up until one day...

S.T.A.R. Labs. Particle Accelerator made this place the birth nest of Meta-Humans. And while many of them were relatively quickly caught by the newly appeared hero, there was one who always got away. The Racing Menace of Central City.

"Freeze! Don't move!" One of the officers command pointing the gun at the meta-human crook. In front of Joe West stood the man, clad in blood red full body suit. The chest and shoulders were black with bright yellow lightning patterns outlining them. The same thin black lightning bolts were going down from the chest to the belt. His black boots and gloves with spikes on elbows had red lightning lines. The mask he wore had two thick bolt-like parts on both sides, his mouth was concealed behind the fabric of the suit and his eyes were behind black and red track glasses. In the middle of his chest was the red circle with black lightning in it. "Get down or I will shoot!"

 **"Seriously?"** He chuckled malevolently with his voice vibrating before disappearing right in front of them. The policemen started shooting around, trying to get the black and red blur. From all around they heard him laughing like the child. **"Good luck with that, boys!"**

One after one, the law enforcement representatives were taken out and and brought down. Eddie Thawne, his new partner, was slammed into the wall with the speedster maniac holding him by the throat.

 **"I remember you. Last time you got me with some super-zapper..."** In an instant, the blonde policeman was beind dragged at abnormal speed around the place. **"It freaking hurt that time, you son of a-"**

"Watch your language, kid." The annoyingly familiar voice whispered before the stream of blue flame almost got the super-fast criminal.

Strikespeed grinned behind the mask at the person in front of him. The man, in his mid twenties, wore white and blue sleeveless hood jacket with blue pants and yellow belt. His eyes were hidden by blue glasses. The hood was pulled back, revealing his snow shite hair. Leonard Snart, better known as the metahuman **FrostBite** , looked intensely at the speedster.

"Or you will get-"

 **"What? Cold shoulder?"** The speedster mocked him before launching himself at the cryokinetic. Leonard Snart held his arms out creating the ice wall between the villain and himself. But that was too slow. **"You need to step up the game, Snart!"**

Strikespeed started running around the fellow metahuman, creating the vacuum trap. Snart fell on his knees, finding it hard to breathe. The white haired man pressed his hands against the concrete. Ice started covering it.

 **"What a cliché idea, Cold. Trying the ice against the speedster? Better come up with some-"** His taunting came to an end, as the speedster noticed something odd. He was slowing down. While to a mere man, it would look just as fast as he usually ran, Barry knew better. He was being slowed down. But how?

"Welcome to my Freeze Field." Leonard smirked with steam coming from his mouth. The vigilante held out his arm, sending several icicles at the villain with relatively great force. Allen ran out of its direction, finding its really hard to move at his usual speed.

"I have said that before, kid. My powers are not about **freezing**.They are about **stopping the motion**. Right now you are in the field where all particles in it are preventing you from speeding up." Leonard could not help but grin. "How does it feel to be back to normal velocity?"

"Worse than I remember." The slowed down speedster scoffed. He had enough powers to change his voice, but this little out-of-daily thing did the trick. Snart was distracted by the normal voice of the opponent and missed the following shot. With all the speed he had, Strikespeed broke out of the Freeze Field. He looked at the bag with stollen jewelry and smirked. **"I was going to _peacefully_ take these... But you know what, I changed my mind."**

With the roar, Speedstrike attacked the cryokinetic and started delivering blows at the super speed. However, that was not the first encounter between two men, and Snart used his powers to create small pieces of ice armour around the body.

 **"Comeon,Snart!"** Strikespeed exclaimed with his voice accelerated. **"Land a punch! Idareyou! Come-"**

The speedster was silenced by the powerful stream of flame throwing him back. Before he could even look at the newly arrived, he had to run out of the way of another beam which almosg turned him into artificial gold sculpture.

 **"Well, well."** Barry mused cracking hks knuckles. **"So, the whole _Renegades_** **gang is back in town, huh? I kind of hoped that you two got an arrow to youf chest."**

"Dream on, flashy!" The man in white protective suit exclaimed pointing his gun at the speedster. "You aare outnumbered. Surrender or I will melt you and the suit together."

 **"That's not fine by me, thank you very much. And, just so you know,"** The body of the criminal started vibrating at enormous speed. It loooked like he was moving from right to left and vice-versa. Soon he just stood at one place with a smirk on his face and two bright red and black blurs coming in two directions. **"Snart is not the only one with new tricks..."**

The eyes of the heroes widened at the sight of three perfectly identical speedsters in front of them. All three grinned.

 **"Catch us if you can, Losers Squad!"** All three syncronically exclaimed before running away with a mocking laughter. Every Renegades member took their respective motorcycles and started the pursuit.

As Snart siblings were reaching their respective goals, both speedsters disappeared like they were an illusion. **BlazeCry** AKA Mick Rory, however, was more lucky with the target chosen. He stopped the bike not far from the bridge. People were running away in panic, since they saw the blur. The gun-wielding vigilante gripped both of his Heat Guns and started looking out for the incoming attack. But none came.

 **"Boy, these guys really know how to make good burgers."** Someone said with his mouth full behind Mick. The former fireman turned around and sent two powerful streams of fure towards the villain. When the attack stopped, he was gone. **"And I thought Archer had anger issues..."**

"Quit playing around!" Mick exclaimed trying to see the speedster. He could be anywhere. One moment. And his weapons were nowhere to see. "What the-?"

 **"Still don't get why are you even on the team?"** Strikespeed wondered playing around with one of the guns in his hand. He smirked at the lost expression of his opponent's face. **"I mean, what can you do without these toys of yours? Scare me with your burns?"**

Within a second, Mick found himself on the top of one of the city's skyscrapers. His suit was the knly thing that kept him from falling, as it was tied around his body like a rope.

As the screams of the man were heard in the city, Barry Allen pulled down the mask and removed his glasses. With a smirk he was standing on the top of some random building where noone would see him. He looked at the small chip in his arm. Those idiots really thought he was after the jewels? Pathetic.

"Mission complete, big guy." He said into the communicator. "Be sure to bring my paycheck."

With those words, he crashed the small device. Those he took from his hirers only on the day of the mission and never used again. Too much risk.

'But pays so good.' He though before disappearing in the flash of red light.

* * *

 **S.T.A.R. Labs.**

Once the high-profile laboratory facility with the most cutting edge equipment and best scientists, today the abandoned and shamed place with only several people still working here.

Mick was sitting on the table with annoyed expression on his face. Not only was he beaten like a kid, but now he also had tl listen to Cisco's rant about how those guns were valuable. Don't get him wrong. The guy was quite fun and easy-going, despite his obvious lack of social skills. But when one of his toys was tgreatened or damaged in some way, this guy was worse than any angry wife.

"I bet, he is laughing." Cisco groaned trying to track the stolen guns. "I bet he is laughing in some Strikespeed Cave. He is laughing there and playing with my guns. And he is doing it with that arrogant smirk of his..."

"How long has he been doing it?" Lisa asked as she looked at the genius.

"Half an hour already." Mick muttered. He shouted to Cisco. " I was sorry! Let it go already!"

"Not until I find this bastard."

Lisa smirked as she sat close to Cisco, causing him to blush slightly. She said nothing abd just watched the monitor, making Cisco really uncomfortable with this.

"... I could use a break." He muttered before leaving the room. "And some cold shower maybe."

Meanwhile Snart was having one of his usual check-ups. Ever since the explosion, he was constantly feeling cold. No matter how hot it was during the day, the police officdr could always be found in need for some hot coffee or warm clothes.

"I am not going to grow extra limbs, am I?" He asked sarcastically. The young woman in front of him showed no sign of emotion. Sometimes Leonard thought that these powers would better suit her than him. Caitlin Snow was indeed the Snow Queen of this place. "Just joking."

"Your body functions perfectly fine. It seems that now you have better control over your own powers." She said, remembering how cold it used to be whenever he entered the room.

"The training pays off." The man in a wheelchair smiled proudly. "Any information one the fast and furious?"

"Actually, I managed to record his voice when the vibrating effect was gone." Snart took out the memory card from his glasses. The optical device did not only protect his eyesight from the light of his new powers, but also gave him the required info on any criminal, if he was in a database, and the communication with the Labs. The video and audio recorder were installed too. "But that's not much."

"I am really sorry, but I have to go." Caitlin said packing her things.

* * *

She never said where she went. Harrison Wells only said her goodbye and asked to be careful. Cisco was trying not to mess things up with Lisa, which apparently showed some interest in him. Mick and Leonard were busy. Mick was trying to help Cisco with the gun repair. And Leonard busied himself with the plan for the next battle with the speedster.

And Caitlin Snow...

She was currently sitting in a local coffee shop. She ordered one cup of latté and a muffin. Ever since the death of Ronnie, she grew distant to all the people in her life. And that's how she now spent every single evening. Just she and a random book. Nothing to be excited about.

"I am sorry." Someone asked, getting the attention of Doctor Snow. She looked up from her book and saw the young man in his mid-twenties with a shy smile. "Is this seat taken?"

"No." She answered simply. She rarely engaged in longer conversations, if those were not reakted to science or the research at the S.T.A.R. Labs. That was one of the reasons why she loved this place: almost everyone here could just disappear in his own small world. Quickly returning to her book, Caitlin was interrupted by the young man again.

"Martin Stein?" He asked, pointing at the cover of the book. "It's hard to find someone with an ibterest in books like this." He smirked.

"Well,I guess, I am kne of those few who actually read today." She retorted with a sly smile. The doctor was surpries herself that someone was also interested in the lost professor's work. She extended her arm. "Caitlin Snow."

The man let out a small laugh at the last name. From the first sight, she created the impression of quite uptight and cold woman. Who knew that the last name would suit her so perfectly? The young man smiled, shaking her hand. On his middle finger was onyx black ring with a red circle on it.

"Barry Allen."

 _Outside the café stood the figure, covered in the shadows. Its glowing red eyes watched the pair talking about something. The figure made a step forward. He was going to end this. He needed to change everything. The figure looked at his arm. It was shaking uncontrollably at the abnormal speed._

 ** _"Barry Allen..."_** _The figure whispered with its voice vibrating. Its eyes narrowed in a predatory way._ _  
_

 _In the flash, the figure was gone with the bright yellow streak following him._

* * *

 **Here is the first chapter, guys! Please tell me what you think about it!**

 **Long reviews are always appreciated) Hope you liked it!**

 **Up until next update!**


	2. Chapter 1: Spectre of Traumas Part 1

**Disclaimer:** don't own the Flash. I wish I could travel back in time and change things, but I can't! Damn you, fabric of time and space!

 **Author's Note:** I would like to thank all the readers for your reviews, favourites and follows! Hope you will stay)

* * *

 **Just in a few things to add to the section in the previous chapter:**

 **DO NOT READ THIS STORY, IF:**

 **1) you LIKE WestAllen. That is 100% SNOWBARRY story.**

 **2) you WANT Barry to be the slight baddie. There are a lot of stories where writers take the BAD guy and after he falls in love, he instantly becomes sensitive flower boy. NOT HERE. Just so you know, this version of Barry Allen is NOT above the sadism when he desires.**

 **3) SnowStorm fan. No spoilers, but there will not be even 50% of hope for this couple.**

 **Chapter is served~**

* * *

 _My name is Barry Allen..._

 _And you'd better stay out of my way!_

 _When I was a child, my father killed my mom right in front of my eyes._

 _That was the Nightmare._

 _Then the accident made me the Nightmare..._

 _For the outside world, I was **Nobody**._

 _But now I can use my speed to do whatever I want and whenever I want!_

 _And one day..._

 _I will destroy everyone who opposed me and get everything desired for myself!_

 _I am..._

 _》》》》》_ _ **THE STRIKESPEED**_

* * *

The nights in Central City were always ones to remember. Gotham had casinos and clubs at every corner, but Central City amazed people without loud music, half-naked dancers and any drug bought as easily as a lolipop. No.

Joe West, forty with something years old police officer, loved his town for nights like this. The Central City Park often served as a place for good thinking or having fun with your friends and family. He sighed looking at the night sky, with his wife, Sarah West, leaning her head on his shoulder. They have been married for twenty years already, and Joe could only thank God for such a great partner He had given him.

"Do you remember the times when we used to come here with Iris?" Sarah sighed with a nostalgia in her voice. She was picturing one of her memories with Joe, Iris and herself having fun in the light of the day or playing with fireworks under the night sky. "I miss good old days."

Those were indeed the best days for West family. Those were the days of simple life. Joe sighed. He was not an idiot and perfectly knew why these days his wife tried to go out with him somewhere much more than they used to.

 **She was afraid...**

Ever since the explosion of S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator, almost noone was safe. And police officers were in much greater danger than ever before. A few days after the incident Central City Police Department had to witness the attack of the first of **The Metahumans**. They were born here and here they wanted to strive. Many police officers moved or tried not to get involved in any crime with metahumans involved. Sarah West also knew that Joe would never stop being a detective. It was part of his nature to try his hardest to protect innocent people. And that's why all she could do now is to spend as much time with him as possible.

"We are still young. No need to say 'Good old times', honey." Joe added with a smile.

He always loved to remind his wife that for him she would alwags remain the same woman he fell in love with long time ago. Joe leaned closer to plant a kiss on her lips. With inches between, his eyes, unknown to Sarah, widened in horror. Joe thought that he would never scream in fear after all years in law enforcement. But he did. The police officer grabbed his wife by the wrist and ran. Sarah was trying to understand what happened to her husband and soon got the answer. Right behind them was running the monster.

In the true meaning of the word. The creature behind seemed to be created from pure golden light. It had giant bat-like wings, six arms and two legs with sharp claws on fingers and disgusting scales covering the flesh. The abomination had a frog-like head with sharp blade-shape teeth, no eyes and three horns. The monster roared, putting some more power to the chasing.

His heart was beating faster with every second. JOe was constantly telling himself not to look back. He just kept running. People bearby also ran in panic as soon as they saw the creature. There were those, who were too scared even to move. The beast was not losing its speed, with every step getting closer and closer to the couple. Finally, both people were tackled to the ground with its bare strength.

Joe could only beg God for some help. His wife lying unconscious: the fear proved to be too much for her. Joe looked at the monster, ready to face whatever was coming. But he didn't expect what happened next.

"HEEEELP ME!" The monster roared. The voice was sending chills down the spine, its eyes were murderously glaring at the man, ling out of its mouth...

But it seemed that the monster was far more scared himself than the police officer was.

* * *

Leonard Snart took a sip of his hot coffee. Despite the unnaturally hot day, he still found the drink hardly warming. At such times he hated the accident, that turned him into metahuman. While he acquired cool powers and the chance to protect his city against people like Strikespeed and some **his "** sidekicks", the same accident made it impossible for him tl feel warmth. Even if Mick showered him with flames, he would feel only slightly warmer than usual.

"Hey, Snart!" The partner of his, detective Mark Mardon, called out. Mark was young, but really talented detective. Usually, Snart preferred to work along, but the former juvenile occupant watched his back and saved Leonard's skin enough times to earn some trust. "Heard about the Wests?"

Who didn't? Two days ago, the couple was found in the local park with looks of pure horror on their faces. All the witnesses claimed that they saw a glowing yellow monster, that was chasing the two. Sarah was still in the shocked state after the incident. The doctor said that she just needed some time to get back to normal. Her daughter, the news reporter Iris West, was looking after her. Joe, however, didn't spend even a second in the hospital. A few hours after the attack he entered the building and started looking through all the files on criminals he could get his hands on.

"Any idea, who he is looking for?" Mark asked with a bit of curiosity.

"I happened to learn, who he is looking for. Well, the first name, at least." Leonard was just lucky to sneak a peek at the files Joe was carrying. All of them had nothing to do with each other. The files were on drug dealers, rapists, arsonists and even street pocket thieves. "But there was thing they had in common, after all. All those people had the same name: Roy."

The silence stayed for several minutes, before Mark looked at Leonard and asked with the mixture of anxiety and sadness on his face.

"You think **he** is here?"

These words echoed in Snart's head. Many people hated metahumans. And they had all the rights to do so. Most of those were crazed criminals, destroying anything on their way just because they wanted to do it. But after what happened to the twin of their city, people saw metahumans as even bigger monsters as they used to.

Snart never was a man to show his feelings. He learnt how to be cold towards the world and put all feelings aside, replacing them with calculating and analyzing. And when he learnt of the crazy week in **Keystone City** , he was even more convinced that emotions could do much harm to you and people around.

Emotions like...

 **Rage.**

Three months ago, on the first day, the local stadium turned into real blood bath. People were calmly watching the annual baseball match between Keystone Gladiators and Gotham Knights, when all of a sudden all the spectators had a sudden mood change and started the fight. People were thrown down the stairs, screams of rage filled the construction. Soon the players joined them too, beating each other with any equipment they could find nearby. Result: 11 people were hospitalized; 4 were dead.

 **Love/Lust.**

The second day became the nightmare for nearly thirteen women and twenty men. Out of nowhere, people all over the city started attacking someone. That was no longer the wild brute force measuring. It was a hunt. And people were hunting for the victim for 'mating'. Numerous women were attacked and raped in the light of the day. Some men returned from work only to find their wives or girlfriends killed by their female co-workers or neighbors. This nighmare of obsession and lust lasted for two whole days.

 **Greed.**

The day after that, thw whole town went crazy with their material possessions. THat was the day when almost every single person tried to steal anything in their reach. Cars, purses, office tools, newspapers, keys, kids! Everything, that you could take, people tried to steal. But there were also those, who became insatiable. Restaurants, grocery shops, pubs, cafes were ravaged by people, trying to stuff as much food down into their mouths as possible. Around thirteen people were killed in armed robberies, fourty people were hospitalized with food poisoning, thirty seven people were injured in car accidents, which resulted from the attempts to steal vehicles and escape as fast a possible.

 **Compassion.**

Snart was one of the good guys, or so he preferred to think. His father, an honoured police officer, always lectured him about how important was the ability to understand another person's pain. Detective Snart never used fists, unless he was pushed to the edge. But does compassion have limits? On the fourth day, Keystone citizens learnt that it does. This time there were less people affected by the unknown power. But this brought no less devastation and destruction. All the inmates were released... All those killers, gang members, rapists and maniacs were freed by foolishly compassionate guards and mayor. Banks were robbed without a fight, policemen were trying to reason with criminals instead of drawing out the guns when needed... By the end of the second day many crime syndicates were celebrating their luck.

 **Fear.**

By the fifth day, many people tried to stay at homes. Too afraid to even step outside thier homes, people were hiding and preying that this nightmare would end. They were unlucky to do so that day. This was the most silent day out of all seven days, but at the same time it was no less horrible than the previous ones. Haunted by irrational fears, many people killed themselves, trying to make the visions stop. Some people went on a murderous spree, seeing only monsters around.

The whole seven days of constant crimes. And noone could find the man resposnsible. But on the next day everything was back to normal. People still cannot forget all the horror, that they went through. For the next three days people were trying to rebuild thier city, find the missing ones and restore the order.

And that was the day when people found the responsible for these events.

His face was scarred and burned...

He didn't remember his own name...

The whole body was glowing with green blue light...

He only whispered three words:

"That was me..."

The officer, who stood in front of him, instantly drew out the gun and pulled the trigger.

 ** _But in a flash of bright red light the man was gone. And he was never seen ever since._**

Snart let out a sigh. The Racing Menace he media, has already made a bad image for metahumans. But saving the life of the man, responsible for numerous deaths throughout the city, made him one of the most wanted criminals in both cities. And, of course, the public opinion on metahumans worsened even more. Snart was sure that even if someone with these powers is not a lost cause, he or she would have to hide their gifts in order to live a normal life.

And while getting more allies would definitely help the crimefighting, another question was nagging Leonard.

'What are you planning to do with that walking catastrophe, kid?' Snart thought, looking at his cold drink.

* * *

Many years ago, **James Jesse** , brilliant but not completely mentally stable scientist, was working on the evacuation bunkers project for the city. He was planning them not only as the places to hide and surivive in, but also to live there and thrive. Well, at least to some point.

Unfortunately for him, the project was given to **WAYNE INC.** , due to his supposed instability. Soon after that, under unknown circumstances, was killed in his own apartment. The semi-constructed bunker was forgotten and left to be. Until one day it was discovered and soon revived.

Under the river, inside the forgotten bunker, the sound of steps was spreadng throughout the corridors. In his cell Roy Bivolo was sitting in the corner with his arms around his knees and eyes staring at the floor.

His physical health has improved since the last time he was out on the fresh air. The scars were healed, the burns were hardly visible. Unfortunately for him, his powers could not help his mental well-being. All those deaths were caused by him, and he should have died. But that speedster... He just appeared out of nowhere and took him here. The man couldn't even do anything before he found himself locked in this strange containment cell.

He heard the rumours about Strikespeed and believed that he was just like most of them. A stupid thug, who happened to get powers. But that was far from truth. Roy couldn't use his abilities in this cell. It seemed that not only the Speed Demon of Central City collected data about him, but also either created or at least knew how to work with this equipment. The collar on his neck was the evidence of it.

"How is our favourite Moodman?" The feminime voice asked smugly. In front og his cell stood a woman in her mid-twenties. She wore relatively bright make-up, her curly brown hair were in her daily club style. She wore leather black jeans and jacket with white shirt. Roy never answered her. He never tried ti interact with her or other members of this group. Besides her stood the two last members of the team.

"Where is Strikespeed?" Clyde groaned in annoyance. He was already in bad mood, since he had to go here from Keystone. The young man looked at his clock, trying to figure out how the fastest man alive could be so late. "Even you, Nymbus, are here. And we know how slow you are."

"Maybe boss is busy?" Kyle calmly breathed out. He, unlike the rest of the group in casual clothes, wore strict business suit, which harshly contradicted with his intimidating appearance. Shawna quickly got tired of getting no answer from their hostage.

That was one of the few bad sides of working **for** Strikespeed: He showed up whenever he wanted. And usually he appeared on time. But today was definitely not one of those days. All three decided to head to the living hall of their base. At least, there they would have something to kill some time with. In the living room were a lot of things you would find in clubs or good cafes. It was not the classic secret basement with weapons, giant computer screens and round table, at which they would discuss the plan to take over the world. Instead, the room had comfortable sofas, some vending and arcade game machines, several plasma TV screens with consoles of almost every type and a bar.

Roy Bivolo tried to ignore whatever they were talking about. He was not an idiot and perfectly understood why he was here. His powers were the weapon. And like any other weapon, many people would like to get their hands on him. Especially after that demonstration of his destructive capability. The thoughts about numerous deaths he has caused started filling his head once again.

He would take another people's lives again!

He would be the weapon!

He would become MURDERER!

 _ **These Fear... Rage...** _

**'I am not going to let that happen!'** He thought before standing up, coated in red and yellow light. The collar fell off his neck, landing on the floor with a clanking sound. The alarm signaled throughout the corridors, alerting the three meta-humans.

When they arrived, he was waiting them. With his eyes glowing white, seven different coloured lights coming from his being. Nymbus' body turned into green smoke, Shawna got into the fighting stance and started to think of the better place to attaDck from, above Clyde's palm a small tornado started forming.

"Back to the cell, Bivolo!" Clyde commanded, ready to send the guy flying into the wall. But the neta-human just looked at them before whispering:

"My name is **Prism!** " He roared before attacking them with a wave of red energy. Nymbus avoided the attack, but was shot in the back by the affected by red energy Clyde. Shawna tried to deliver a blow from behind but was counter-attacked by Prism. He started to choke her. "And you should answer my questions... now!"

* * *

 **Okay, guys. The firstpart of our small story.**

 **Hope you liked it!**

 **I am sorry for the complete absence of the main characters of the story. But I decided to leave them for the second part and concentrate on background characters a little bit more than it is usually done!**

 **Also I wanted to thank everyone for so many reviews! I actually thought that the idea was not the best and planned on deleting this story in the beginning. But you, guys, are making me want to write it more!)  
**

 **Anyway, until next time!)**

 **I hope, it is is not that bad.  
**


	3. Chapter 2: Spectre of Traumas Part 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't won The Flash Tv series. The concept of Earth-3, all the characters mentioned belong to the DC universe. I make no profit.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I am back to this story with new ideas! I have just finished watching two episodes of new season, and so far I have been hyped more about Zoom than anyone else! So here is the deal, guys, I just want to share my thoughts about these two episodes, but to avoid any spoilers, it will be placed at the end of the chapter.**

 **Okay, with that said, to the story!**

* * *

 _My name is Barry Allen..._

 _And you'd better stay out of my way!_

 _When i was a child, my father killed my mom right in front of my eyes._

 _It was the Nightmare._

 _Then the accident made me the Nightmare._

 _For the outside world, I was **Nobody.**_

 _But now I can use my speed to do whatever I want and whenever I want._

 _And one day..._

 _I will destroy everyone who opposed me and get everything desired for myself!_

 _I am..._

 _》》》》》 **THE STRIKESPEED**_

* * *

The usual morning in Centrap City. The same routine of work. That is what was awaiting Barry Allen his daily life as the Mercury Labs worker. Or so it usually did...

"B-but how...?" Tina McGee, the CEO of the company, muttered in surprise. She looked with her mouth open wide in confusion at the young scientist right in front of her. All his researches were only on the first phase just a few months ago and today they could already be put in mass production. Optical enhancers, stamina improving pills and the reinforced tri-polymer suits were finished in incredibly short period of time. "That's impossible..."

"Like we say in Mercury Labs," Barry chuckled, repeating the words Tina used whenever they presented a new invention to the world. "There is nothing impossible for us, right?"

He yawned loudly.

"All it itakes is a bright mind, several nights of sleep deprivation and unnaturally good looks." He grinned at how Tina's face seemingly dulled down. She was definitely not the woman to appreciate jokes. But Barry could care less about this.

After all, it has become really easy to work his way up the career hierarchy when you have the ability to process any information at great speed. Add to that his last visits to several most advanced laboratories all around the world and his own wit, there was indeed nothing impossible.

"Anyway, good job, Dr. Allen." She praised him dryly. However, not even all her favourite trained doctors could boast about that much of appreciation sign. "I hope, you will be able to present one of them next week."

"Roger that!" He mockingly salluted his employer, before leaving the place.

After all, he couldn't spend his time here while having a date with someone really interesting, right?

* * *

Caitlin Snow didn't go out that much these days. It has been almost a year since the death of her boyfriend and future husband Ronnie Raymond. He was probably the most honest person she has ever met. They dreamed of many things. And those things seemed so real and close.

Until the day the Particle Accelerator ruined everything.

Someone might say that the most logical thing for her would be leaving STAR Labs. since it was the cause of her beloved's death. And Caitlin thought about this. But when the first metahuman emerged a mere week after the incident, when she saw how much destruction they could cause, Caitlin decided to stay. To honor Ronnie's sacrifice. To make sure this world is safe from superpowered monsters.

Those were the reasons to stay in the place, which brought her so much pain.

But what was the reason for her to sit here? Waiting for the guy, whom she barely knew? Was she betraying the memory of Ronnie by doing this? Maybe she should just go home. The guy from before was being late. And by waiting him, Caitlin felt herself even more of a traitor. The brunette picked up her purse, ready to leave.

Suddenly, the large explosion shook the walls, getting screams from the customers of the small cafe. Getting up from the floor, Caitlin looked at the street from the window. Her skin got colder, her eyes grew wider in shock and fear. The feeling of panic was steadily fillling her insides. The woman took a few steps back, pressing her back against one of the walls. Some of the customers screamed. Some of them tried to suppress the urge to vomit.

Ouside was the real massacre. The massive brawl in which no one was safe. The people outside looked like the mad dogs, attaclht. Some drivers were even directly hitting the civilians, trying to kill as many of them and as fast as they could.

Her telephone rang out.

"Caitlin, where are you?!" Cisco asked. The panic in his voice was even more evident than in hers as she answered.

"CC Jitters." She closed her eyes, as another wave of screams hit her ears. "Cisco, what's going on?"

"The metahuman from Keystone." Cisco said, making Caitlin's heart stop for a few moments. "I don't know how, but he is here! Leonard and Mick are containing the situation in near the police department! Lisa is on her way, but i don't know how long it will take for her..."

 **"Harrriiison... Wells.."** The man near her whispered in growling tone. People around looked at him worriedly.

The noise outside has stopped. All the people were like zombies, mutteing only one name.

 **"Hariiiison... Wells..."**

"Where is he?..." Some man hissed, grabbing Caitlin by her throat. "Tell me! **Now...** "

Her heart was racing like crazy. The people around were surrounding her, their eyes were glowing blood red. They seemed possessed by the metahuman, but how was it possible? Were his abilities so wide-ranged? Caitlin gasped, unable to breathe properly. Her eyes were slowly closing...

* * *

 **"You should have stayed where you were, Bivolo!"** In his suit, on top speed Barry was making his way through the raging crowds of affected people. Too consumed by their wrath, people were way easier to beat without any kind of mercy-like crap. Not that it usually prevented him.

In the cnter of the street, surrounded by hurricane of red and yellow lights, stood the metahuman. His eyes were glowing with primal rage. People all around stopped the bloodshed and stared at the speedster, as if they were waiting for the command. The whole scene was quite creeping out.

Roy clenched his teeth and fists. He was looking for the man who made him into _this_. However, the Racing Menace was not innocent to him as well. His heart beating accelerated as the images of that hell week resurfaced in his mind. His blood boiled as the hours of self-loathing and mourning over those whom he killed, even unwillingly, started repeating themselves in his consciousness. Two energies got faster and stronger, showing the amount of hatred Roy had for the Strikespeed.

"Y-You..." He growled out. His hands were coated in two different colours. "DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!"

His voice rang throughout the whole space. As if it was the signal, all the people around rushed towards the speedster with everything they could as weapons in his hands. Barry just shook his head at the apparently pathetic attempt of assault. For anyone else, this turn of event would make him nervous, but he was way too fast. In Barry's eyes, this looked like the slow-motion scene from some lame movie with all these 'attackers' rushing with glass shards, sticks, bats and so on. Stretching out, he ran head-to-head on them.

Roy could only helplessly watch as all those weapons flew up in the sky, while people were tossed in different directions by the small hurricanes. The whole scene took less than a minute and all the soldiers of Prism were already unconsciously lying on the ground. He grit his teeth, trying to find the speedster, who disappeared into nowhere.

 **"Heads UUUUUP!"** Vibrating voice exclaimed seconds before Roy received a direct hit to his chin. His jaw was almost dislocated by the power of the attack. Luckily, the energy shield minimized the effect. Roy stood back and looked out for the now again gone speedster.

Everything went silent. The completely soundless scene was really unnerving, due to the reputaion of the speedster. Strikespeed was not very patient adversary. And everyone knew that whenever he decided to wait, it meant that he was taking out the big guns.

"Wh-Why did you do this to me?" Roy muttered out. He needed to get the the scarlet demon to give away his own location. "Why did you save me?!"

No reply was received.

"We both know that you could care less about another person's life!" He exclaimed challenging. He could swear he heard a chuckle. "I-If you ever cared about anyone but yourself, you'd let me DIE! WHY?!"

 **"Because I was hired to..."** The cold emotionless voice spoke from behind, sending shivers down his spine. Roy turned around as fast as he could, trying to send a punch. But the figure of the speedster faded away, leaving nothing after. Roy heard the chuckling and faint laughing from all around the place. As he looked back, his eyes widened in shock.

 **"What happened, Roy?"** Almost twenty speedsters, vibrating and shaking, stared at him with malevolence soaked voices. All of them grinned behind their masks, before taking the fighting stances. _**"Afraid to play with big boys?"**_

Before he could even react properly, he received another supersonic punch to his stomach. Trying to regain his breath, Roy stood up and tried to create a shield with his energy, but that was futile. One after one, these clones attacked him in perfect rhythm. Roy could see that they were not real. They were just distractions. When one of them attacked, the real Strikespeed would appear from the opposite or random side and deliver a blow. But how could he tell the fake from the real one? How?!

 **"...that is the differenc between us two!"** One of the copies exclaimed, before the powerful leg-kick was delivered to his knee.

 **"You are afraid of your own powers!"** Roy once again lost the air from his chest.

 **"While I did what you won't!"** The series of supersonic and powerful blows was sent to his chest. Roy was grabbed by his arms and dragged along the ground and right into the wall. He looked right into Strikespeed's track glasses. He felt the speedster's grip tighten around his neck. **"I embraced it. You know how people say. Embrace the crazy...** **"**

With the grin, Strikespeed sent Prism flying back before catching up with him and closing him inside the 'sphere' of punches and kicks. As the emotion-manipulator fell on the ground, Barry chuckled patronizingly.

 **"...or die. That's cool too."** He tunred around, ready to call a certain "greedy, adrenaline-junky jerk of a pilot" to pick the package up and give him the paycheck, when suddenly the golden yellow tentacle-like construction gripped him out of nowhere and crashed him into the building. His concentration broken and he spoke in his normal voice. "What the hell..."

In front of him, surrounded by **seven** differently coloured creatures from hard light, stood grinning Bivolo. He looked at his arms in amusement. He clenched the fist, and a bigger one made from greed light manifested above. Like the little boy, Roy held out his arm only for the red sword to appear in his hand. Barry so did **not** like where this whole thing was going.

"Embrace the crazy, huh?" Roy chuckled, the feeling of triumph filled his heart. "Are you regretting your big mouth now, Strikespeed?"

 **"Not as much as you are going to."** Barry spat. His eyes narrowed, as the energy started running through his body with double force. **"I am afraid, Power Ring is not getting his order in one piece..."**

With these, both men attacked each other. Barry was now in less cheerful state, not caring for the small talk or light joking. The fact that he was sucker-punched like this was really annoying and he had just what he needed in situations like this.

The punching bag.

"I have finally understood this!" Roy hollered, charging back. He held out two arms and the next moment the giant red beam of energy flew towards the speedster. "I have been given this power to eradicate the evil... like you!"

Barry groaned at how fast all these idiots changed their view of the world. It was reall yparadoxal how guys like him could go from one mood to another in a matter of seconds! And people say he is unstable!

 **"Could you please go back into that emo-mode of yours? I liked that one of yours more!"**

"Still joking, huh?"Roy chuckled before unleashing the wave of red energy towards the speedstar. Barry tried to ourun the assault but to no avail. To his own surprise, he found himself being slowly dragged to Prism. He grinned predatorily before placing his hands on Strikespeed's head. His hads started glowing white. "Let's see how I can wipe that smirk of yours from your face..."

In the next moment, everything in Barry's eyes went black.

* * *

Her consciousnees slowly drifting away, her body going limp, Caitlin could only helplessly look into the eyes of the possessed man. She was about to pass out, when out nowhere...

 **"Stay away!"** The sudden voice exclaimed fast. Caitlin fell to the ground, catching her breath. As she looked up, the female scientist watched the strangest scene taking place.

All the customers, blinded by bloodthirst, tried to catch the **cobalt blue** streak of light, running around the place like a hurricane. One by one, the mad dogs were taken out cold. Caitlin couldn't believe her own eyes. Strikespeed was the criminal psychopath, who almost killed a dozen of police officers, was helping her? No, that was preposterous. Not even in the wildest turn of events, the psychotic speed demon would rather help someone than rob a few banks.

Trying to figure out what on Earth was going on, Caitlin watched the streak of light running around like the mad hurricane, restraining or putting the crazed customers into unconsious state. One of them rushed towards the scinetist with the knife in his hand. Only to be stopped inches away from her by the unknown metahuman's hand.

He had almost the same build as that of speedstar criminal. However, the suit was literally the opposite to the former one's. The suit was seemingly of the same material as that of the speedstar criminal, but its colour was black. He had shoulder and knee pads, the chest has a slight armour above it. On his chest was the glowing blue diamond shaped emblem with four thin lines extenting from its sides. The face was hidden behind the helmet mask with two white eye-like lenses. His armoured hand grabbed the man and tossed him away. The figure looked around, not even saying a word.

"Who are you?..." She whispered, too shocked to even utter a word. However, she received no answer. The man just turned towards the exit.

In an instant, the figure was gone, leaving the blue streak behind.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait there, guys!  
**

 **So, here are the appearances of fully reimagined Prism and the second speedster. I hope, i didn't make Roy too overpowered, but it was important to do so! Why? Well, the answer is a few sentences below.**

 **First of all, let me just tell you a few of my thoughts on the Season 2. (SO SPOILER ALERT)**

 **I like how they are handling the new action and team concept without Harrison. It was really a great twist when it turned out that Ronnie, supposedly, died trying to save the city. Jay Garrick is agreat mentor figure and his suit rocks. They are slowly building up the Legends of Tomorrow team with Snart in the last episode showing his concern about the code. And Zoom looks and seems badass. Not to mention the fact that Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne is not dead yet. (Or at least I hope so.)**

 **BUT there is one major minus. Look, I know that it may seem childish but am I the only one who's feeling like the writers are just forcing JaySnow couple? Is it just that they want to follow canon here and eventually have Iris and Barry end up together? I like Patty. (So far, though, she seems like the female version of Barry. I mean no offence to her fans.) In the first episode the scene in Mercury Labs., where Caitlin offers to watch the message with him is just so great. (At least, for me.) All those 'full-body scan' and 'maybe you should stay here' scenes with JaySnow hints didn't give me (once again, just to me) even the billionth of those two minutes Barry and Caitlin were in laboratory together. With that said, and hoping I have not offended anyone...**

* * *

 ** _COMING SOON ON THE "DARK HOPE":_  
**

 **The Strikespeed gang is back on feet and hungry for revenge!**

 **STAR Labs. team is trying to save people from themselves!**

 **Barry Allen will have to go through the Hell of his own past!**


	4. Chapter 3: Spectre of Traumas Part 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own the Flash. All the rights belong to DC and CW channel.

* * *

 **HEY, GUYS! Sorry for late updates! (Unfortunately, I write whenever that sadist of inspiration visits me! Apparently, it doesn't like me that much!)**

 **I have just watched episodes 3, 4 and 5 of Flash and, oh boy, the last one made me laugh and make up theories! At the end of the chapter are some of the theories, so SPOILER ALERT!**

 **You should NOT read this, if:**

 **1) You love the JaySnow ship!**

 **Sorry, guys and girls, but it feels kind of rushed (pun intended) and forced. I mean, in season 1 Caitlin decided to move on only in episode 12 (It has been almost a year after his 'death') and in season 2 she falls for Jay a few months after Ronnie's death, which happens literally on the same day (If I remember correctly) as they got married! I mean no offence to those who ship them together, though. It's your choice!**

 **2) You expect Caitlin to turn villain and join Barry's gang. Sorrry, kids, maybe in another timeline! (Seriously, I was thinking about writing Flash Alternative Timelines One-Shots Archive)**

 **3) You love the TV show Joe West and don't want him to change. Too bad that here he is a different (though, not completely) guy.**

* * *

 _My name is Barry Allen...  
_

 _And you'd better stay out of my way!_

 _When I was a child, my father killed my mom right in front of my eyes._

 _It was the Nightmare._

 _Then the accident made me the Nightmare._

 _For the outside world, I was **Nobody.**_

 _But now I can use my speed to do whatever I want and whenever I want._

 _And one day..._

 _I will destroy everyone who opposed me and get everything desired for myself!_

 _I am..._

 ** _THE STRIKESPEED_**

* * *

His head was killing him. The heavy feeling in his whole body was annoying the hell out of him. Groaning and cursing, Mark lifted his body from the floor trying to remember how he ended up in this state. Looking around, he spottedthe other two metahumans. Both of them were unconscious. Shawna was just out cold, however, while Nymbus had his business suit torn in several places with the giant burn tissue on his back. That was when Mark regained his memories of what happned.

"That son of a..." He growled. The very thought of being used by someone like Roy irritated him. But the fact that he was forced to sucker-punch was just humiliating. Wasting no second, Mark began his attempts to wake the other gang members up. Slowly, they opened their eyes just as disorientated as he was minutes ago. "Got your afternoon nap, kids?"

"W-What happened?" The bald killer groaned, feeling the pain of the burn he had received. The previous work as a mercenary made him accustomed to pain. However, the same work experience gave him a habit he was not going to give up any time soon: "Never stay in debt". And right now he was really up for exacting revenge. The memories of that fight washed over him. "That little rat Bivolo escaped?"

"Yes."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Shawna asked in atypically serious and irritated tone for her. Her fellow metas looked at her in slight surprise. She cracked her knuckles impatiently. "The sooner we find him, the more beating we can give him before the boss arrives! And I, sure as hell, want to see his body get broken in all ways possible."

Not even waiting for her gangmates, Shawna disappeared in the black mist. The other two followed behind. While Mark, driven by the same rage and lust for revenge, Kyle could not help but think what Roy could possibly put the female metahuman through to cause such kind of behaviour. Whatever it was, Nimbus thought, it was really unpretty. But what could it be?

* * *

 _It was the feeling of free falling. He was not trying to stop or slow down, no. Barry Allen was just calmly falling in the endless space, surrounded by absolutely nothing. He opened his eyes slighly to see less and less light with every second passed. When he was finally consumed by the dark, he started just floating here. In the void space with no sound or light._

 _"Barry..."_

 _His eyes widened in shock at the voice, which resonated throughout the whole place. he shookhis head, trying to shake off the feeling. It couldn't be **her** voice! It was just impossible! _

_"Barry..."_

 _Once again, the voice rang out but much louder. He tried to stand up and run away from it. But he had no succes, since there was no ground to run on. The speedster covered his ears, trying to block the voice, which was now constantly calling out for him. it was just annoying to hear this voice! He didn't want to even remember it! Suddenly, he felt someone touch his hands..._

 _"Barry, sweetie..." As he opened his eyes and looked at such familiar, but long-forgotten, face, the darkness around faded away. Barry's eyes widened as the space around got filled with the warm light and he found himself in his room. His **old** room. Barry satrted looking around before looking again at the face of the woman in front of him. She had long dark orange hair, her green eyes were filled with so much warmth and comfort that you would alwat=ys feel safe with her. The only imperfection on her face was the giant black eye she had. "Barry, did you have another nightmare?"_

 _The words stopped right in his throat. It was one of the strangest things Barry has ever got to experience. The adult Barry, still in his suit, was watching his eleven years old self talking to his long-dead mother. What was even stranger was the fact hat he was experiencing this from two sides. As his child self spoke, Barry could look at his mother's face through the child's eyes but couldn't control what he was saying._

 _Unssen by anyone, Barry could not help but analyze the facial expression of his mother. She was hugging his child self, trying to calm him down. She was whispering to him that everything was alright. That there were no monsters under his bed or in his closet. Barry watched his own child self nod and smile as he went back to sleep. That idiotic innocence of his was really annoying._

 _the little him could not see it, but Barry was not that kid anymore. He saw past the facade his mother put on for him. He ignored the warmth radiating smile, the gentle voice she spoke with and her embrace. He, instead, concentrated on that one flaw on her face. Her right eye, with the bruised blue skin around, held the truth._

 _It was not shining with hope and kindness like all her other being. Instead, it had the tired and desperate glint in it. As a child, he probably didn't want to admit this, but here lied the truth. All of her pain, exhaustion and despair could be easily read in the emerald orb of hers._

 _Nora, making sure her son was safe and sound, exited the room. But not before her mask fell off. Gone were the shine in her skin and eyes, the warmth in her look and the life in her stance. She now reminded more of the living corpse than a human. Both of her eyes were tired, she let out a heavy sigh, her body was shaking slightly. Before closing the door, she cast the last look at her precious son. Her lips curled into a small smile before it disappeared again._

 _He exited after her, leaving his younger self in the room. As Barry made his way downstairs, he could not help but look at the frames. on the wall. There were many pictures of Nora, Henry and Barry. But there was none where they were together. on all the picutres of nora, she was in her college years and either surrounded by her frinds or completely alone. Henry's photos all featured him in his doctor uniform either reciving an award or shaking hands with some big figure in the city or his photo from the popular medicine magazine. And there were only few of Barry, where he stood in his shool uniform with his hair neatly combed back in the stereotypical preppy boy fashion.  
_

 _When he looked at those pictures, the memories of how actually distant from the concept of family the Allens was washed over the speedster. Suddenly, he heard the yelling coming from the kitchen. Then the sound of glass shattered against the floor followed. He heard the door to his room open. Phasing through him, his younger self silently made it downstairs both afraid to exit the room when he was required to sleep and curious about the nature of the noise. It was all too familiar for Barry what was coming next. He walked towards the kitchen with only on thought in his mind._

 _"The show starts..." He whispered to himself grimly._

 _Looking inside, eleven year old Barry saw the picture he would remember for the rest of his life. With her nose bleeding, Nora was lying on the floor. Near her stood none other than his father. His white shirt was crumbled, the sleeved were rolled up, his tie was undone, one of his fists had some blood on it. The older Barry watched his younger self move a little away from the door. His knees were shaking violently, his breathing became loud and was kind of weird to watch himself in this state.  
_

 _"So weak and such a coward..." Barry muttered, looking at his younger self._

 _The sound of another blow followed, accompanied by the screaming of Nora. The older Barry slightly flinched at the constant screams and begging for mercy. He saw his younger self's eyes water as he closed his ears. Still, the little boy didn't find courage to or strength in his body to even move. He was just standing there, watching his mother get the beating._

 _"How DARE YOU!" Henry roared, kicking his wife in the stomach with his leg. SHe let out another cry of pain. Clenching her sides, sobbing without stop, Nora was a shaking mess on the floor. Little Barry clenched his fists as he watched his own father walk up to the lying wife of his and pull her up by her hair, getting even more screaming from her. Her eyes were blooshot, the tears were streaming down her cheeks, large bruises were covering her arms and face. "I break my back at the clinic EVERY FUCKING DAY, NORA! All you ever needed to do was raise MY son! And not embarass ME!"_

 _The slap. Then the kick. Nora was now too weak to even protect herself and now was just accepting the abuse. Her cries were mcuh less audible. Her lips were bleeding now too, the red imprint on her left cheek was hardly visible with the amount bruises on her face._

 _"And what do you do?!" He roars, slamming his fist into the wall. He takes out his phone. Nora's eyes instantly widen in fear and shock. Did he know? Her heart started beating faster. Henry turned the screen of his phone to her , showing the photo displayed. The quality was not the best one, but it was still easy to tell what or, more exactly, who was on the picture._

 _On the photo there was their home. It was an afternoon, several hours after Henry went to work and Barry went to school, to be exact. Standing near the door was Nora, spotting one of the brightest smiles she has had recently. The unknown man was approaching the house. the image changes to the next one, showing both adults hug in the manner friends and relatives do not. Then the final one with Nora leaning for a kiss and the man answering it._

 _Henry looks at her, waiting for the answer. But she cannot come up with one. She just helplessly looks at her husband as she finds herself unable to say anything._

 _"I-I..." She stammers. Before she even manages to say anything, the telephone is slammed against her head. the beating and screaming continues, filling the space around with noise and turning atmosphere of the house unbearable._

 _The older Barry has lived through this memory day after day for following years. He turned to see his younger self shaking and sobbing, silently begging for this to stop. Barry watched closely, fully aware that he could not do anything about it. So he just had to go through this again._

 _"DAD! STOP!" Barry saw his younger counterpart gone and rushing towards their father. He was moving slow and his voice held no threat in it. it was not a command, it was not filled rage or hatred. It was nothing more than just a child's begging accompanied with tears and sobs. Henry's breath reeked of alcohol and cheap perfume. Looking closer, the kid saw several hickeys on the neck of his father. "LET MOM GO!"_

 _But his begging fell on the deaf ears. One swift movement sent the little boy into the door, slamming his head hard against it. Nora screamed as she tried to make Barry go. She doesn't want anything of this happen to him. She doesn't want him to see them like this._

 _"SHUT UP, BARRY!" Henry roars. The alcohol in his bloodstream is yealling at him not to stop. His tired and angry eyes fall on the butcher knife. The feeling of betrayal and anger keep boiling his blood. He grabs the knife, then grabs Nora by her throat, making it hard to beathe for her. He looks at her with the coldest rage one could have. "IS BARRY EVEN MY SON?! OR DID YOU HOOK UP WITH SOMEONE?!"_

 _Her eyes water once again. Her heart is aching at the mere thought of this. Barry was Henry's son, but would he believe her right now? He tightened the grip, cutting the acces to oxygen. She si trying to say something but to no avail. Nora sees her little Barry look up at them with some blood pouring down from his forehead. SHe gives him a weak smile, the same one she always gave him whenever he had nightmares._

 _"... Please, Henry..." She tries to whisper. "... Not in front of Barry..."_

 _But he doesn't hear her. The doctor can hear only his anger. He cannot hear her last words. He draws back the knife and mercilessly drives it into her chest. The blood is leaking out of her mouth, trickling down her chin and on the floor. The dead silence takes over the place. Henry steps away from her body, letting it fall on the floor with the woman's face turned towards Barry._

 _The older version of Barry averts his gaze as the kid starts screaming at the top of his lungs._

 _"MOM!" He screams as he runs towards the bleeding body of hers. He tries to wake her up. He hopes he can do so. "Please! MOM! MOM!"_

* * *

Nobody heard Barry silently mumble the word "Mom" because of the going fight. He was helplessly lying not far from the battlefield.

Roy roared angrily as he sent the wave of red energy in the direction of three criminals. The emotion manipulator was furious at how inconvenient their timing was. Just when he was about to crush the skull of the annoying speedster, his whole body was blown away into the building wall by powerful stream of wind. His eyes were narrowed and filled with bloodlust. He raised his hands. Instantly, two giant clawed hands appeared in the air.

"Get down!" Mark commanded. When both of his gangmates ducked, the blonde metahuman concentrated the power in his hands and attacked the Prism with lightning bolts. Unfortunately, Roy was fast enough to react and manifest the shield in front of him. The said shield quickly was sent into the the **Storm Slayer** , getting him off the ground. "...shit..."

"Now, which one is next?!" Roy growled with burning rage in his eyes. He couldn't use his power on them as before. Somehow, his powers have changed. Was it permanent? In all honesty, Roy hoped so. With his gist not affecting! After he killed these four, that is. He clenched his fists. Twodifferent coloured flames coated his arms. He looked at the two of the meta-gang with the smirk. "Not so high and mighty now, huh?"

"I like them this way just as much as you!" Someone exclaimed as the stream of cold blue flames washed over him. Roy screamed at the feeling of his skin burned by the cold. He turned around to find none other than the Frostbite with his arms encased in ice shell. "However, I'd rather have them nicely locked up in the pipeline than down in the grave."

"Stay away, Frostbite." Prism muttered. Fighting the hero was not the best way to redeem himself. In any other situation, he would give up and try to ask the cryokinetic hero for help. But those three and their boss have put him through too much to spare them. He would have his revenge, no matter what the consequences. "You are not the one I am after."

"But you are the one I am after." Snart stated simply before firing from both of his arms. Roy raised his hand, creating the shield. Not willing to lose time, Leonard rushed towards the metahuman while simultaneously attacking him with ice daggers. When the distance between them was short enough, Frostbite grabbed both of Roy's arms. Leo's eyes glowed white as the ice started covering the wrists of the emotion manipulator. "Give up before I shatter your arms."

"NEVER!" Roy roared, headbutting the hero. His arms were crushed into ice powder. The scream filled the street as the man was rolling the ground from the pain. His eyes were glowing even brighter as the energy was covering more and more of his body. Finally, the screaming stopped. And now in front of the metahumans, both heroes and villains, stood the monster.

His body was made of hard light, which was constantly changing the colours. He had four arms with giant sharp claws. His tail head the eye and spikes on it. With his blood red eyes the monster looked at the figures below and grinned, showing off its horrible razor-like teeth. Inside the beast they could see the unconscious body of Roy.

"Any good ideas?" Leonard turned towards the members of the gang.

"If we had, why would we tell you?" Shawna snarled, helping Mark to stand up. "You made him like that, you should calm him down."

"I will help." Mark grunted"That son of a bitch owes me for sucker-punching me twice!"

"It's not our problem." Kyle stated clamly.

"Yes, it is mine. Now get your asses out of here." He said sternly cracking his cnuckles. "What I am going to do is fry this guy until he is black and crispy. No offense, Shawna."

Without another word, Mark put his hands forward and concentrated. Instantly, the clouds above them darkened and the powerful wind started blowing. Leonard gripped the nearby tree, trying not to be taken away by the force of nature. The giant monster was slowly moved back by the power. Inside of it, Roy showed no signs of life, though. The creature roared and the sheer power of it was enough to shatter the windows around. Shawna turned around to look at the unconscious body of their boss. She bit her lip before rushing to him.

"I need to get him to safe place. You, help Mark deal with the monster!" Shawna said to Kyle. The former hitman nodded. Transforming into the living cloud of toxic gas, Nimbus flew towards the monster of hard-light. Taking his cloth-covered hand, Shawna breathed in and tried to find some place where she could hide him. She spotted the **King Consolidated** tower far enough from here. Taking a deep breath in, she focused on it. The metahuman closed her eyes, not letting go of Barry's hand.

In an instant, they appeared in the sky, several meters away from the roof. Not letting the panic and fear took control, Shawna teleported again. This time both of them found themselves on the roof the company. Now, that they were out of Prism's reach, the bruenette grabbed the unconscious speedster by his shoulders and started waking him up.

"Barry, wake up... Please, we need you here! Wa _ke up..._

* * *

 _"Hey, Allen, wake up!" the twelve year old Barry was shoved from his bed. Rubbing his temples and yawning exhausted, the boy looked up to see his tormentors all grinning in anticipation. Barry gulped at the sight of them and mentally prepared himself for his everyday torture. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. "Time for you to take shower!"  
_

 _It has been a year since the death of his mother and imprisonment of his father. For the first week, Barry was just too scared to say anything. Henry promised to kill him if he even tried to tell anyone about this. On the first day of the second week, he accidentally bumped into Sarah West. She was a kind neighbour and a good friend of his mother. She asked why Nora didn't come for some book discussion. Barry, as he was instructed to, said that his mother went to some resort with Henry paying for everything. Though not fully convinced, but Sarah stopped with questions and went home. Unfortunately, all Henry saw was his son talking to the best friend of his now dead mother..._

 _When Barry came home, he instantly received a slap across his face. His father was yelling at him, beating him. Barry was crying and begging for Henry to stop. But that was futile. Tired and frustrated, Henry did one single thing which scarred Barry permanently._

 _Grabbing his arm, Henry led his son to the door to the basement. Barry's eyes instantly widened in horror. He started fighting to get out of his grip. He was screaming and begging for his dad to stop. He was crying his eyes out at the mere thought of what his father wanted to do. Getting another three slaps, Barry calmed down and now was just sobbing at the thought of his death._

 _They went into the basement with Henry holding his wrist tightly. Henry pulled out the key from the old steel safe Henry's grandfather used to have. Barry's heartrate accelerated as the realization came to him. His father was not going to kill him. But what was cming hardly was better. Turning the key around and opening the safe, Henry let Nora's dead body with broken linbs fall out for display._

 _Barry shrieked in horror, closing his eyes with his ut Henry quickly grabbed him and turned him to face his mother's corpse. Henry grabbed his neck from behind and made him look straight into the cold lifeless eyes, Barry used to find comfort in. Barry was on his knees, hands held behind, face pressed against the cold floor and his eyes staring right into bloodshot orbs of his mother... In this position Barry spent the following three hours._

 _One can say that Barry was just lucky that two days later his dad got drunk enough for Barry to get to the phone. He called police and told everything he knew. He hoped that everything would be just like in the detective TV series he and Nora used to watch: the police officers would lock away arrest his father, and then he would live happy._

 _Boy, he was so wrong..._

 _"You know, you are doing good so far!" One of the fellow foster kids exclaimed in mocking awe. Barry coughed out the dirty water they 'showered' him with. It has been six days already. For six whole days he was doing the chores, giving them the most edible parts of his food, take the blame for whatever prank they pulled. And all of that just to go through their "test"._

 _"Just four more days and you might even hang out with us!" Another kid grinned teasingly. Barry ignored them, trying to find his clothes. When they were not in the place, he heard snickering. Of course, they couldn't stop at dirty shower, could they?_

 _"Oh, we are so sorry, Barry!" The third kid sniffed in false sadness. "We just wanted to wash them for you... You know, there was some **blood** on it!"_

 _Unable to control himself, Barry launched himself at the kid and started beating him with all the fury he had supressed until now. Unfortunately, the other two reacted fast and soon Barry found himself on the floor with three kids kicking and spitting on him. They informed him about the extension of his test before leaving with loud there, Barry sobbed loudly...  
_

 _'Why is happening to me...?' He thought, shaking. Why was he suffering? Why did he have to go through all of this? The anger inside of him was increasing. He never did anything bad! And yet all of this was happening to him!_

 ** _"It is better to have a good heart, Barry..."_** _The words of his mother rang out softly in his he was bullied or made fun of, she would always say these words. She was convicning him that good kids always were happy even if sometimes life was hard on them. And only these words helped him smile after another bullying and beating by other kids.  
_

 _However, it failed now.  
_

 _Shakingly, Barry stood up and picked his backpack with some notebooks and books. He didn't change his clothes and left the room. The shadow was covering his eyes. He was ignoring the murmurs and pointed fingers as he made his way out of the foster house. The stood near the bus stop and waited for the school bus to arrive. His face held not emotion as he got on it and inserted the quarter. He heardsome chuckles and jokes towards him. But right now he just ignored them._

 _"My father told me stay away from him..." He hears a familiarvoice whisper. He turns around slightly to see the girl of his age with dark skin and black hair. He feels his heart ache a little. His only friend, Iris, turns away trying to avoid any eye contact with him. He can hear her whisper sommething to the other kids, completely getting their attention._

 _He averts his gaze and doesn't lift his head for the rest of the ride.  
_

 _That was the day Barry Allen, as he was before, died completely._

* * *

 **And here is the new chapter! Is it considered a cliffhanger?  
**

 **Sorry for late updates again! I hope you are still with this story!**

 **So... What do you think about the history of Barry in this timeline? Did I overdo the whole taumatic childhood part? (Because I feel that I did.) Anyway, the whole point is that Nora _really_ cheated on Henry! Yup, no mistake! I am not justifying actions of any of them, though! Henry of this reality is way more of fame hog and ignored, sometimes abused Nora and cheated himself on several occassions. Nora, however, cheated only because she fell in loved with that other guy! Too cheesy? **

**An yeah, I know there was not much action. Sorry for that.**

 **Next on is the presence of speedsters! Just so we are clear, there are going to be SIX speedtsers overall! (Just to clarify, I include all the characters that will use superspeed whether it is permanent or temporary!) Strikespeed is one of them! And now why am I telling you this? Pretty simple!**

 **I want you to play a game with me! (Hope it is not really childish of me!) Guees all six right and you will get a prize! (It is a secret!)**

 **Up next is my reaction on the last three episodes!**

 **I liked Earth-2 Harrison Wells. His personality is so different from the one Eobard used while disguising himself. Especially, his relationship with Jay Garrick. their fight was so cool!**

 **King Shark was awesome! Too bad we won't see him in live-action movies!**

 **Zoom seems more and more terrifying with every episode!**

 **THEORY TIME:  
Who here thinks the Killer Snow is going to be EARTH-2 Caitlin?**

 **Why? Well, while giving the original Caitlin powers would be cool, it will hardly cause confrontation.**

 **How big are the chances that Zoom is...**

 **... BARRY ALLEN?!**

 **I mean, that would make Earth-2 more of mixture of Earths 3 and 2, but still! Wouldn't that be awesome?!**

 **We ll know the other theories about Zoom's real identity: The most popular one is that eddie hides behind black mask, right?**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading! Be sure to leave reviews!**


	5. Chapter 4: Spectre of Traumas Part 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own the Flash.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Okay, guys. Sorry for the late update. I have been planning out some major changes in the story while writing the other ones. Guilty as charged.**

 **Anyway, I am so hyped up because they announced we are gonna have Deathstorm! One word: Epic- wait for it and get the reference -dairy!**

* * *

 _My name is Barry Allen..._

 _And you'd better stay out of my way!_

 _When I was a child, my father killed my mother right in front of my eyes._

 _That was the Nightmare._

 _Then the accident made me the Nightmare..._

 _For the outside world, I was_ **_Nobody._**

 _But now I can use my speed to do whatever I want and whenever I want!  
_

 _And one day I will destroy everyone who opposed me and get the desired for myself!_

 _I am..._

 ** _THE STRIKESPEED_**

* * *

It was the massacre. Back when she worked with the gang, Shawna knew how bad another raid could end. But this. This was a whole new level.

Both heroes and villains lying on the ground as the monster of colours walked away from them. He has crushed the Renegades and almost killed her own teammates. He would have finished them if she didn't act fast and transport them with her. It was like the whole city went silent with only the monster's footsteps heard.

"Come on, Barry... You need to wake up... Please, Barry... Pl _ease"_

 _Barry looked up at Iris. She looked almost desperate and it made his heart hurt.  
_

 _It has been almost two years since the murder and imprisonment of his mother and father respectively. It has beenhalf a year since he ran away from that Hell they called orphanage. The teen yawned loudly... The small apartment he could afford on the money from his part-time jobs was definitely as its price would suggest. Just yesterday he heard the couple yell at each other for four hours straight. When did it become something so easy to think about?_

 _"Barry, please! You have to help me!"_

 _Why was he doing this? Why was he even listening to her? Iris West **used to be** his friend. Then why was he treating her like one right now? _

_"Iris, I don't think I have enough time-" He wasn't lying. Barry was busy. Way busier than his peers could ever imagine._

 _"But if I fail the next Chemistry test, my parents will make me quit the Journalism Club!"_

 _"Look, Iris-"_

 _"Please!" She took his hand and looked at him with those puppy eyes. "I swear it won't take long!"_

 _All his instincts were screaming at him! They were begging and yelling for him not to do this! But maube his crush on her was not gone completely? Because that was the only logical reason he said:_

 _"Fine."_

* * *

 _The small and not really comfortable one room apartment greeted Barry with the same thing as every other day. The smell of something rotten and dirty, the creaking floor, some cockroaches eating whatever junk food he had left from yesterday.  
_

 _And if any other day, Barry would just ignore all of this, today was a different day._

 _"... screw you, Iris..." He whsipered bitterly. In the feat of rage, he tossed his backpack into the opposite wall and groaned. Everything was just pissing him off! Why? Why?! WHY?! He was just there to help! "Screw you, Tony... Screw you, Joe!"_

 _first, he gets beaten up by Iris' self-proclaimed boyfriend, not that she didn't ming being around . And then he own dad, the one he could call his uncle at some point in the past, looks at him as if he was a criminal or something!_

 _Barry took out the small piece of paper. His Chemistry teacher told him about some small science fair. It would mess up his tutoring sessions with Iris... But no longer did he care. From now on, Barry Allen would never look out for anyone else!_

* * *

Detective Joe West was the man of second chances. While he always followed the law, he believed every person deserved a second chance. And after the first metahuman attack, he also learnt how tragically some people were affected by the Particle Accelearator Explosion.

One of them was Roy Bivolo.

That night in the park... The creatrure he sent after him was scared. He was not scared of the Strikespeed. No, he was scared of someone even more threatening. He was scared of himself. Joe looked up Rpy Bivolo's profile. One small theft and then all clean. All he wanted to do was just to make an earnest living. but the fate decided otherwise and granted him powers so immense that he could take on the whole armies... Or in his case, the whole city.

Joe couldn't imagine his horror. Just think about it like this: you are the guy who couldn't go past stealing a smoothie machine. And then you wake up as a murderer of over eighty hundred innocent people. The worst part was that he couldn't control it. Looking closer into his profile, Eddie found out that he had a psychological instability. He would switch from one mood to another in a matter of seconds without his medication.

"That's why I am here..." Joe said, calmly looking at the giant monster of hard light. "Roy, we can help you... We can help you redeem yourself. All you need to do is to calm down. Alright?"

"I... No..." He heard the metahuman say. His voice was sad and desperate. The rage and hatred were gone. His voice was shaking. "Look around, officer! All of this si my fault! You hear me? All. Is. My. FAULT! As long as I live, I will only make other people suffer! I don't want this! I will find the man who didn't let me die and kill him! And then I will kill myself!"

Leonard opened his eyes, his head killing him. told him something about his powers enhancing his regeneration or something. Damn, his ribs were almost shattered but it didn't hurt. Must be another side-effect of his cryogenic state.

"Are you alright?" Snart looked up to see Caitlin and Cisco. The Hispanic inventor handed Mick and Lisa their extra guns. "I can't believe you got them destroyed this fast!"

"We are alive, thank you very much." The Firecry groaned sarcastically. "What's the info on the Rainbow Boy?"

"He does not control emotions." Caitlin said as she showed the scan of brainwaves of one of the affected in the cafe. "He is able to transmit his own emotional singal into the other people's brains. He doesn't even control it!"

The sudden flash of red light. And all eyes were glued on the fastest criminal alive. All Renegades aimed their guns.

"What do you want, Speedy?" Mick asked with his gun ready to melt STrikespeed together with the suit.

 **"I want you all out of my way..."** He stated calmly. But the aura around him was speaking of immense bloodlust. **"You'd better put your toys aay and go somewhere safe. Otherwise... I will have to look for other dumbasses to kick around on daily basis."**

"YOU!" Prism exclaimed as his eyes started glowing blood red. "Finally came out to die?"

 **"..."**

"Come at me!" Behind the glasses, Strikespeed's eyes were glwoing with terrifying yellow light.

 **ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

Before he even knew it, Roy found himself broken out of his own light armour in nowhere. No buldings. No trees. Not even a hint on anything living except for some grass here and there.

"You made me remmeber some bad stuff..." Barry didn't even care to hide his voice as he walked out of nowhere. Roy's arms were now made red light. "Wanna make me even madder? So don't recommend!"

Before Roy could even send the blast, he received the blow to his stomach. It was stronger and faster than any punch Prism has ever received. He felt his guts twist and whatever he was fed fight its way out. just as fast as the lightning, Strikespeed grabbed Roy by the back of his head and ran forward at the minimum superspeed. Roy screamed as the speedster started lowering his face to the ground while keeping up the speed!

"No-WAIT!"

Pressing his face against the ground, Barry kept running around, painting the surface with the guy's blood. Ten agnozing seconds later, he grabbed his neck and made Roy face him. The guy's face was now a complete mess: lips practically torn away, skin missing on his cheeks and lower part of the face. It was a gruesome thing... But that wasn't even remotely enough!

"The memories I have buried so many years ago!" The punch as fast as the speeding bullet to his jaw. "That fucking memory!" The series of mini sonic-punches to the chest. "You just had to remind me about them..."

"P-Please... Kill me..."

The silence. Complete and horrifying silence.

"No..." Strikespeed said, shocking the metahuman. Why? Before Roy could even ask, He was grabbed by his hair and pulled up. "Like Hell I am going to let you go so easily... I have spent some time chasing your sorry ass, you know. The guy who hired me... That stammering coward from Coast City. He has got big reward for your head." Strikespeed grinned, enjoying the horror on Roy's face.

"Y-You won't do this... this is inhumane!"

"Don't worry." Barry smirked and chuckled. "He will keep you alive... He will cut off your limbs, dissect you alive or even murder everyone you have ever come in contact with in front your eyes but you will live. That ring of the guy has got some messed up ideas..."

"Y-You are the monster..." Roy was now lying on the ground, tears streaming down his face. "You..."

"Wanna know a secret?" Barry sat on one knee and whispered into the guy's ear. "Monsters are not born..."

 _"Stop it! Please, someone help me!"_

 _"Come on, Allen! We are just improving your little scinece project!"_

 _"Please! Stop!"_

"Monsters are made..." Barry looked at the uncoscious body of the Priism. "They are made by the people who will grow to fear them..."

* * *

Caitlin was analyzing the last samples of hard light constructions in the Jitters. Was she worried that someone passing behind her would get a glimpse at the psyonically created armour and weapons with the potential to becaome world's most powerful weapon? No. Those who took a look from behind just thought it wa some bad computer animation or video game tools.

"Well, look who is here?" Her eyes were closed. The strangely familiar scent of cinnamon and chocolate. It was apparently weird how quickly she goit to remember this. "guess who I am and I pay for coffee and cake."

"Let me see..." Caitlin decided to play along. "Smooth skin, which is strange for the guy who claims he is not some preppy..." Her arms went higher and now were tracing along his shoulders. "Pretty hard muscles for the guy who claims to never engage in extreme physical activity..." And now here palms were in his hair. "And hair... which really need more shampoo and hair conditioner. My verdict: Bartholomew Allen."

"Oh, come on. What gave me away?" He smirked taking a seat next to her. "My biceps? My cheekbones? My smooth way of talking?"

"Your ring." Caitlin chuckled lightly, closing her laptop. "Honestly, I can't imagine any other scientist wearing the ring with lightning on it. It was now that Caitlin noticed Barry grin wider. That smug grin was just begging to be questioned. "Why so smug, ?"

"Oh, you see, ..." He trailed off and pointed at his finger. "You checked my hands first. That means that you already knew who I was. And that means..." His smnug expression was getting even more profound. He leaned forward and smirked. "... that you have spent extra and unnecessary time examining me further... Should I report you for molesting?"

"Jerk." Caitlin Snow, as red as tomato, had to fight the urge to strangle him. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that you owe me coffee and cake."

"How about the dinner?" Barry said nonchalantly, making Caitlin's eyes widen. "I mean, like friends. You know, just friendly dinner with me trying to show off my cooking skills... And if anything, my firefighting skills too."

"Are you trying to flirt, ?"

"I am doing a lousy job at it, am not I?"

"Well, could be worse." Caitlin said as she stood up and headed towards the exit. "Oh, by the way, ?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we can improve your flirting this Friday." That was all she said as she left the place. A little bit shocked but happy, Barry pulled out his phone and dialed the number of Clyde.

"Clyde, hey! Remember those cooking videos you took?" Barry had to put away the phone as the loud screaming and yelling was haeard on the other end of the line. "Alright, the videos that you _stole by_ mistake. I need them today, alright?"

* * *

The day turned out pretty good for Caitlin.

While it felt a little bit strange, she was actually warming up to Barry. He was a little bit geeky and had this mysterious presence whenever he got serious. But it felt... comfortable. Still, every time she thought about Barry and how they were growing closer, the memory of Ronnie resurfaced. The memories of their first meeting... Their first kiss... Their plans for weding and honey moon... And all these memories ended so bitterly... His sacrifice nobody would know about.

"Hm?" She opened the door into her flat. The lights were on. She pulled out the small taser which she kept for self-protection. Someone was here. She could feel it with every fiber of her soul. "Who is here?"

She heard the door into her room open. Slowly walking towards the source of the sound, Caitlin looked inside the room. As she saw the intrudor, Caitlin felt her body shake. The weapon fell out of her hand and her knees gave out. No... It was impossible!

"Caitlin?" The man opened the door and smiled at her. Such warm and kind smile...

"N-No..." She mumbled, on the verge of fainting. "Y-You can't be..."

"It's me, Caitlin." He wapped his hands around her and looked right into her eyes. "It's me... Ronnie."

* * *

 **And... cliffhanger!  
**

 **Is it cliffhanger?**

 **Anyway, guys what do you think?**

 **Any ideas what i have in mind ofr the current love trianle?**

 **Try to guess!**


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